Baffling Teas

Wolfsbane scowled as he exited the bathroom of his private quarters. One of the staff had drawn the curtains back, so the early morning light streamed into the room. Was Wolf mostly awake from his morning self care routine? Yes… But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. 

At least the meal set out for him looked good; a few pieces of freshly baked bread to go with a creamy soup that smelled almost smoky. There was a small bowl of assorted fruit to the side as well. Wolf picked up a piece of dragonfruit and popped it in his mouth, taking a seat and preparing to tuck in. 

Before he could get very far however, he was interrupted by a soft knock at the main door of his quarters. Dusk, the Fellantern that had been curled up and sleeping on Wolf’s bed, padded over and lept onto the chair across from him. It sat in a way that gave off a dignified air, curling its tail over its nearly immaterial paws. 

“Hello, Master Wolfsbane, it’s Berry! Oh, and Taavi! Could we come in?” 

Wolf gave himself a quick once over. He was in his bun form, wearing a silk pajama set in a deep red shade that almost exactly matched the motes of Hellfire that constantly accompanied him. He brought a paw to his neck; his Claws clinked comfortingly on his silver choker as he made sure it was properly in place. 

“Come in, both of you.” 

The bun-sized cut out in the dark wooden door opened slowly and revealed the aforementioned members of his staff. Berry was his new gardener; the light brown Sloth bun was holding a paper shopping bag, and whatever was inside sloshed softly as he moved. Taavi following him in, Grand horns gleaming in the morning light.

“Mornin’ boss.” 

Berry frowned at Taavi’s informal request, instead choosing to bow his head towards Wolf as he greeted him. “Good morning, milord. I came across an interesting food truck on my way to work, and got some stuff for a little treat!” He held up the bag, waiting for Wolf’s nod of permission before coming closer. He began emptying the bag’s contents onto the table one by one. “And I wanted you to have the first pick, of course.” Berry ended his spiel with a gentle smile. 

Wolfsbane leaned closer to get a better look at what Berry had brought. Dusk, also intrigued, jumped onto the table to investigate. They were drinks, that much was for certain. But the textures… One was bubbling, and one was… Noodles?

“Berry, darling… What have you brought for me?” Wolfsbane met the smaller bun’s eyes and raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow.

Berry’s face darkened with a blush as Wolfsbane addressed him directly, eyes flitting down to the table. “They’re called ‘bubble teas’, sir. The food truck owner was offering a discount for anyone brave enough to try out the new recipes they’d developed for Breeding Season…” Berry glanced up at Wolfsbane again, looking a little frazzled. “I guess I should’ve bought some normal ones… I’m sorry, I’ll - “ 

“Pick one for me.” 

Berry stopped rambling instantly, blush deepening as he paused in the process of gathering the drinks to take away. “Y-yes sir!” He looked over the drinks carefully, hooves hovering over them. “I… Ummm…” 

“Oh, c’mon, they can’t be that bad.” Taavi came up behind Berry and grabbed one of the drinks seemingly at random. He dug into Berry’s bag and pulled out a large straw, stabbing it into the drink then holding it up to read the label stuck onto the side. “This one just says ‘spicy cold’.”

Despite not particularly enjoying spicy foods, after a quick glance at the other drinks, this one seemed to have the least egregious texture. Wolfsbane curled his nose a little as he gave it a cautious sniff, but smoothed his features into an expression of casual disinterest as Berry stared at him. He took a sip, humouring the Sloth bun.

It was awful. 

“No. Absolutely not.” 

Berry immediately snatched another drink from the table and put a straw in, taking the ‘spicy cold’ drink that Wolfsbane thrust at him and replacing it with one labeled ‘caramel noodles’.” This one sounds the most normal, flavour-wise? I think its just the pudding noodles that make it weird. Like, it’s a texture thing.” 

Wolf took an experimental sip, smaller than the one he’d taken of the spicy drink. The milk in this tea calmed down his irritated taste buds, and Wolfsbane raised an eyebrow as he realized this drink wasn’t actually that bad. Then there was a sudden texture change as his straw caught one of the ‘noodles’ and the pudding entered his mouth. Wolf humoured Berry, sucking in a bit more of the caramel-flavoured noodle before biting it off and chewing thoughtfully. “This one has an acceptable flavour, but I could go without the pudding inside.” 

He put the drink onto the table, where Dusk came over to sniff it. Wolfsbane reached over and put a claw under Berry’s chin, gently directing the smaller bun to look at him. “The effort is appreciated, Berry. It’s no fault of yours that my pallet is too sophisticated to enjoy such strange concoctions.” His eyes glanced over Berry’s shoulder to see Taavi trying the spicy tea, seeming to genuinely enjoy it. 

“Now, you too have work to do, no?” Wolfsbane took his hand back. 

“Y-yessir! Thank you for letting me share these with you.” Berry collected the two untouched drinks and placed them back in the bag. He reached for the caramel noodles drink but hesitated as Dusk stared directly at him. Berry nodded at Wolf again, folding into a small bow as he turned and bustled his purple coworker out of Wolf’s private quarters. 

The door closed behind them, and Wolfsbane was alone in his peace once again. He looked at his imp, sighed affectionately and used a claw to cut the plastic top off of the cup to make it easier for Dusk to inspect its new fixation. 

“Now, where was I?” 

Luckily, his soup was still hot.